


In the eye of the storm

by Sinpie_Senpai



Series: Fanfics written for Fayren's OCs [4]
Category: Robots & Lace, Robots - Fandom
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-20 18:32:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19382377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sinpie_Senpai/pseuds/Sinpie_Senpai
Summary: Tomorrow, when he left the maintenance table, he would return to being Criticality - Kafkaesque and indecipherable and dreaded. Ruthless. Untouchable.But for now, in this moment, he let her have him the way she wanted.





	In the eye of the storm

**Author's Note:**

> I am not very happy with it but I can't come up with anything else to do with it. 
> 
> Characters aren't mine. This is a fanfic written for [Fayren's](https://twitter.com/fayren?s=09) OCs on her blog [Robots & Lace](https://twitter.com/robots_and_lace?s=09). Can be read as a standalone.

Ratio didn't really remember what she felt when Valence brought Criticality to her. Everything was lost in the whirlpool of emotions warping into one another. She didn't have a second thought - she barely had a first. Her mind and body simply spurred into action on autopilot, quickly performing a list of emergency procedures as they strapped Criticality to the table. It took eight hours to fix the mechanical damages and bring his system back to a stable state. For the bio-components inside, she injected nanites into his veins and waited for them to do their job. It was a slow process that would take all night - the wounds were ghastly, his flesh ripped and tore open by inhuman force, barely hanging together by wires and cords. His blood reserve was completely dried out. Fortunately, the core and motherboard didn't suffer any serious damage, but it was a close call. As she slumped down on the table next to Criticality's unmoving body, Valence came and offered her a cup of hot chocolate.

"You should go to bed, rest a little." He said, "I can watch him for you."

"Later." She said, even though her eyes were heavy as lead, body sluggish and exhausted. "I want to make sure his system doesn't crash due to an unexpected error during the nanites' repair process." 

"Only till 1 am, alright?" Valence bargained. "No later than that." 

"Sure, sure." Ratio hummed, bringing the cup to her mouth to avoid more conversation. The warmth and sweetness of the chocolate made her feel a little better.

She ran another diagnosis on Criticality's system. Valence shuffled behind her for a little longer, tidying up the mess of tools and equipments and mechanic parts on the floor before he left for his usual night patrol. 

Beeping, the screen lit up with statistics, all stable and within good range. Her eyes grew heavy and mind muddled with the flashing numbers and the rhythmic chirp of machines. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. 

As she stared at Criticality laying still on the table, hooked up to various cables and machine, she just… 

She felt thoroughly drained. 

How many times had they been here? How many times would this continue to happen? 

Tired, she flopped her face down onto his stomach. In maintenance mode, he was barely warm, system vibrating quietly against her ears. The low rumbling was almost calming. 

She sighed and let her eyes fall shut.

  
  


*****

  
  


When Criticality booted up, his interface helpfully showed that he was in repair - estimated 4 hours 38 minutes until completion. His sensors detected a weight on his body, and he lifted his head up to look, but it was just Ratio, snoozing away. Valence was nowhere in sight when he scanned the room - which meant that he was functioning just fine, or he would have been on the other table right next to Criticality. His attention returned to Ratio - her head was resting on his stomach, face turned away from him, ruffled white hair falling all over the place. He lifted his hand, reaching for her.

"No." She said curtly, without turning around to look at him.

He stopped, fingers hovering over her, but he didn't pull his hand back, either.

"I am mad at you." Ratio grumbled, "And you know why."

"I do." He answered, lowering his hand to cup the side of her head, but she bolted up and away from him.

She glared at him, and he casually met her eyes. They stared at each other in silence. Finally, Ratio said.

"I hate this."

Her voice was a little broken at the end. 

"I know." He said.

She looked like she was about to burst from sentiments - he could see them churning with the intensity of a storm in her eyes. Emotions like deep threads wired into every fiber of her being, in her trembling lips, in her shaking shoulders, in her clenched fists. She felt, could feel, so many, many things at once - they thrashed, undulated, warped, spiralled in her every cell - a turbulent, ever-changing world inside her small body, and sometimes he idly wondered why they hadn't rattled her apart. 

She was beautiful like this, he thought.

Ratio raised her hands - to do something, anything - but she just… couldn't. She felt so helpless, frustrated, overwhelmed with anger and exhaustion and distress that she couldn't even voice them out. She hated that her eyes were wet.

In the end, she flopped over Criticality, burying her face into his chest. There was nothing she could do or say that could change their fate. It weighed over them both, an unchangeable reality that she couldn't fight against.

She felt so- so---

Criticality threaded his fingers into her hair, but he didn't stroke it, simply rest his hand on her head. He wasn't able to move well yet, so he probably decided to not do anything. Unlike Valence, gentleness just didn't belong to Criticality's nature. His touch was distinctive - always rougher than necessary, with barely enough force to not cause her serious harm. There was a little bit of bittersweet irony in it - the same hand that had gutted countless robots and humans alike was now laying on her head. Ratio knew he could easily crack her skull - he only needed to grip a little tighter. She trusted that he wouldn't.

It was a mess.

There was nothing normal, or safe, or sane about the relationship she had with Criticality. She was under no foolish delusion - she didn't believe her love would be able to change him for the better. She wasn't even entirely sure it was love that he had for her. And yet, moments like this - stolen time, rare fragile flickers of  _ something _ inside of him - made her forget all her better judgement.

"I am still mad at you." She turned his face enough to barely peek at Criticality through the corner of her eyes, voice muffled. She felt so tired. "So let me use you as pillow." She murmured without any real anger. Instead of mocking her, he just hummed - the sound travelled down his chassis, vibrating against her cheek.

It was a somewhat pleasant sound.

Tomorrow, when he left the maintenance table, he would return to being Criticality - Kafkaesque and indecipherable and dreaded. Ruthless. Untouchable.

But for now, in this moment, he let her have him the way she wanted. 


End file.
